The Heart of Temptation
Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
I have learned through the 53 years of following the Lord Jesus that Satan’s aim in tempting me is destroy my will to follow God. That is clearly revealed in his tempting Jesus. Once Jesus had accepted, the Father’s will at His baptism, His will immediately was put to the test in the wilderness. Matthew 1-11. Each of the three temptations were carefully contrived to weaken Christ’s grip on the will of Father God. Once that grip is loosed, it is only a matter of time before the entire defense breaks down to sin.
Jesus was hungry and tired, when Satan met him in the desert. The needs of the body are often used as the opening wedge for the attack on the will, whether the need is for food, rest, relaxing, or whatever. I make a mistake, however, if I think Satan will be satisfied, merely to trip me up on a physical need; he is after my will. The way I handle my body is only the symptom of my basic commitment. Satan does not try to capture symptoms; he is after the thing that creates the symptoms.
The answer to Satan’s approach through the body is a reaffirmation of my will. “Thou shall worship the Lord, thy God, and Him shalt thou serve”. Matthew 4:10. There is decisiveness, finality! I can only be victorious over Satan when I nailed the peg of commitment further into the soil. I am strengthened by the response of Nehemiah when he was asked to compromise with the enemy, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down”. Nehemiah 6:3. Four times the temptation came, and four times Nehemiah confirmed his grip to do the will of God. So, I must meet Satan head on and send him packing by determining once and for to do God ‘s will, regardless the cost. That is the victory for every believer, Jesus overcame the evil one by holding onto the will of the Father. Let us walk in the same victory being disciplined and alert, and giving no place to the devil.